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Leinster and Glasgow share spoils

Date published: March 27 2015

Leinster could not manage to hold off an impressive Glasgow Warriors side as the two PRO12 title hopefuls drew 34-34 at the RDS in Dublin on Friday.

It took a mere seven minutes for Glasgow to storm into a lead, as Richie Vernon's pass allowed Stuart Hogg to sneak under the posts past the Leinster defence, Peter Horne adding the extras for an impressive start for the away side.

That lead was turned into 10 when Horne sent through a penalty, as Leinster were left shellshocked by the quick start from the Warriors.

The hosts soon came back in search of getting their first points of the evening, though the Warriors held their opponents up tremendously on their own try line, eventually clearing the huge mount of pressure.

But Leinster did come into the game and had their first points after a heap of pressure. Fergus McFadden was the man who eventually made that pressure count, the trusty Ian Madigan kicking through to reduce the gap to three.

The Warriors grabbed their second try in response, and though it had to be checked by the TMO, Vernon was able to go through a number of bodies before being able to ground the ball, Horne converting.

A third came before the break for the visitors, Mark Bennett breaking and beating a host of Leinster men before going over, Horne converting in a half that Glasgow could scarcely believe.

Bennett kicked through a late penalty to stretch that half-time lead to an incredible 20 points, going into the break 27-7 up.

Leinster came out of half-time at an almighty speed, Isaac Boss hunting down an attempted clearance from Glenn Bryce, before going on for a second try, in a game that still threatened many more points. Madigan, who converted that effort, kicked three more as Glasgow's lead was reduced to 10.

Niko Matawalu was issued with a yellow card, and in the time that he was off the field, Leinster had another try. Jordi Murphy got it for the Dublin club, and when Madigan converted an immense last half an hour was set up.

Glasgow, who failed to really leave the blocks in the opening exchanges of the second period, conceded a third try in that time. Boss was the man who again claimed it, putting his side into the lead in the process and turning over a big half-time deficit. Madigan's conversion put the Leinster lead up to four.

Again he struck with a penalty, as Leinster strolled towards what at half-time looked a very unlikely victory.

But the final ten minutes were made an intense affair as Glasgow did finally claim their first try of the half. It came from Bryce, who grabbed his first for the club right in the corner and the conversion levelled matters.

Both sides battled for the victory, and it could have gone either way, but despite a late push from Glasgow, they were unable to go over and an incredible tie at the RDS Arena finished 34-34.